8714
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Fictionalists say 2+2=4 is true in the way that 'Oliver Twist lived in London' is true [Field,H]
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Full Idea:
The fictionalist can say that the sense in which '2+2=4' is true is pretty much the same as the sense in which 'Oliver Twist lived in London' is true. They are true 'according to a well-known story', or 'according to standard mathematics'.
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From:
Hartry Field (Realism, Mathematics and Modality [1989], 1.1.1), quoted by Michèle Friend - Introducing the Philosophy of Mathematics 6.3
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A reaction:
The roots of this idea are in Carnap. Fictionalism strikes me as brilliant, but poisonous in large doses. Novels can aspire to artistic truth, or to documentary truth. We invent a fiction, and nudge it slowly towards reality.
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5504
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Maybe we should see persons in four dimensions, with stages or time-slices at an instant [Martin/Barresi]
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Full Idea:
Some recent philosophers have argued that we should replace the three-dimensional view of persons with a four-dimensional view according to which only time-slices, or 'stages', of persons exist at short intervals of time.
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From:
R Martin / J Barresi (Introduction to 'Personal Identity' [2003], p.3)
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A reaction:
At first glance this seems to neatly eliminate lots of traditional worries. But why would I want to retain my identity, if someone threatened to brainwash me. I also want to disown my inadequate earlier selves. Interesting, though. Lewis.
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5505
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For Aristotle the psyche perishes with the body (except possibly 'nous') [Martin/Barresi]
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Full Idea:
In Aristotle's view, with the possible exception of 'nous' the psyche and all its parts come into being at the same time as its associated body; it is inseparable from the body, and perishes along with it.
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From:
R Martin / J Barresi (Introduction to 'Personal Identity' [2003], p.8)
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A reaction:
It is suggested that he thought there was only one 'nous', which all humans share (p.9). If he wants to claim that one part is immortal, he doesn't have much evidence. If psyche is the form of the body, it is bound to perish.
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